Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $22.67, but opened at $23.62. Equinor ASA shares last traded at $23.61, with a volume of 1,775,125 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQNR. Barclays raised shares of Equinor ASA to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Equinor ASA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded Equinor ASA to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upgraded Equinor ASA from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Equinor ASA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.80 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.90.

Equinor ASA Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $66.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.48.

Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. Equinor ASA had a return on equity of 19.97% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $25.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equinor ASA will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equinor ASA

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQNR. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Equinor ASA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,685,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Equinor ASA by 3.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,751,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,019,000 after purchasing an additional 132,157 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 20.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 75,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 12,585 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Equinor ASA by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 37,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 8,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equinor ASA by 74.5% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 11,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.51% of the company’s stock.

About Equinor ASA

Equinor ASA, an energy company, engages in the exploration, production, transportation, refining, and marketing of petroleum and other forms of energy in Norway and internationally. It operates through Exploration & Production Norway; Exploration & Production International; Exploration & Production USA; Marketing, Midstream & Processing; Renewables; and Other segments.